Overcoming GenAI Anxiety with the Academic Prompt Bank

How can we support students to use Generative AI tools in an ethical way? Research from the University of Sheffield has shown that students are often anxious about the boundaries of appropriate GenAI use in relation to their academic work. The Academic GenAI Prompt Bank is a dynamic curated database of prompts that students can draw on to help overcome their anxiety about fair usage. The Prompt Bank has been developed as a public online resource with the input of three teams of Computer Science MSc students as part of the ‘Software Hut’ module, in which student teams compete to meet the requirements of a client. This presentation will outline the process of development of the AI Academic Prompt Bank and explore its potential as a way to support students in their positive and responsible use of prompt engineering in relation to their academic work.

Dr Oli Johnson is an Academic Skills Adviser at the University of Sheffield's Academic Skills Centre, where he has developed and coordinated the Centre's study skills programme. More recently, he has been working on the development of student-facing resources as part of the University's response to the developing use of GenAI in higher education.